ACT EXPO to Feature Dallas Propane, Biodiesel Program

Dallas is the site of the 2015 ACT EXPO, and area student transporters will share information from their operations.

Attendees at the ACT EXPO in Dallas this spring will learn how Dallas County Schools has saved an estimated $1.5 million annually in fuel costs with the use of 560 propane buses as well as 1,000 biodiesel buses.

DCS, a provider of transportation and other educational services to 11 independent school districts in the metro area, also produces its own B100 on site from waste vegetable oil donated by local restaurants and food manufacturers.

A tour of one of eight DCS alt-fuel facilities will be offered on May 7, the final day of this year's four-day ACT EXPO. DCS is the fourth largest pupil transportation organization in the U.S. and the largest in Texas, with more than 1,900 school buses in its fleet operating out of 12 service centers and transporting 71,000 students to and from school daily.

The ACT EXPO will also share lessons learned from operators of school buses in the Dallas area, as well as those managing airport shuttle, taxi and transit fleets. They will discuss how they made the decision to implement advanced vehicle technologies for fuel efficiency and reduced emissions, in addition to the funding sources they tapped.

The opening ACT EXPO general session features T. Boone Pickens, founder, chairman and CDO of hedge fund BP Capital and TBP Investments Management. He proposed the Pickens Plan in 2008 aimed to dramatically reduce U.S. dependency on foreign energy, particularly oil supplied by OPEC nations. Gary Thomas, president and executive director of Dallas Area Rapid Transit, will join Pickens to discuss "Staying the Course in a Volatile Energy Market."

Another general session will provide a roundtable discussion on global energy and the North American clean transportation market.

Gregg Roden, senior V of productivity sustainability for Frito-Lay North America, will provide the May 4 keynote address. He is scheduled to share why the $13=billion convenient foods division at PepsiCo has set a goal of becoming the most fuel-efficient fleet in America.

David Steiner, president and CEO of Waste Management, will keynote May 5 with a talk about how the largest heavy-duty truck fleet in North America is investing in alternative fuels and related infrastructure.

The ACT Expo Hall will be open the evening of May 5 and all day May 6 and 7. The entire event program is planned in partnership with leading industry associations, including the Propane Education and Research Council, the Electric Drive Transportation Association, Trucking Efficiency, NGV Global, BSR Future of Fuels and the U.S. Department of Energy Clean Cities.

Editor's note — School Transportation News is an official media sponsor of the 2015 ACT EXPO and will produce its own one-day symposium on alternative fuels and clean energy, the Green Bus Summit, on July 29 in Reno, Nevada.

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